In May 2007, an amendment to the Consumer Products Safety Law became effective and further emphasis has been placed on product safety since. ASICS has always put priority on assuring safety and comfort in the use of our products and established unique standards that are used for inspecting products at major stages throughout the processes of product planning, development, design, manufacturing, quality assurance, and shipment. In addition, product manuals and advertising slogans are constantly reviewed to make them easier to understand so that customers can use them properly and safely. Following is a summary of a discussion held among employees involved in the issues of safety and quality control, as well as customer satisfaction, to assess the current situation and future actions regarding these issues.

＜Participants＞

• 
• Yoshizumi Tanooka
• Manager, CSR Team, Legal Department

• 
• Mika Uechi
• Head office team,
  Customer Relations Section
  
  
  
  

• 
• Eiji Abe
• CSR Team,
  Legal Department
  
  
  
  
  

• 
• Shigeki Oka
• CSR Team,
  Legal Department
  
  
  
  
  

• 
• Tadatoshi Nose
• Manager, Quality Control Team, Production Department, Footwear Division

• 
• Shinji Yamaki
• Development Team, Product Development and Production Control Department, Sports Apparel Division

• 
• Morio Nakagawa
• General Manager, Business Operation Department, Equipment Division
  
  
  
  

• 
• Akifumi Ozaki
• Manager, Quality Test Team, Institute of Sport Science
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

Tanooka　Tell us your thoughts on the current situation of safety and quality control in your work.

Uechi　Recently, I noticed that more and more requests coming to the customer support center express customers' expectations towards ASICS products. At the same time, some customers misuse our products so I try to explain the proper usage while maintaining good relations with the customers.
Yamaki　It is necessary to provide an explanation to satisfy the customer about how to use the product. In addition, I think it is necessary for us to anticipate how the products will be used in advance and make it compulsory for everybody involved in the planning to production stages to find out how the products may be used by actually putting them on.
Nose　Unintended usages are also related to choosing the size of shoes. Recently, the fashionable aspects of products are getting more important and customers, who like the NBA style for example, may choose a size bigger than their natural size. It is important that salespeople be able to explain the importance of choosing the right size and proper usage to improve sales quality.
Oka　For shoes, the majority of the production processes use manual labor and, for this reason, it is not easy to stabilize the quality. I think that priority should be placed on the design stage, where potential style of use by customers could be analyzed and reflected in the design. For example, a sole that is exclusively designed for enhanced grip may be problematic for elderly customers as they tend to trip easily. We need to give even consideration to both the user and the actual situations in which the products are used.
Ozaki　Athletes often choose functionality over safety because records and winning are more important for them. Therefore, how we maintain and evaluate safety while upholding the functionality and quality of the products is the key. Since we set different standards according to each sports event, material, and part, and use them for product evaluation and development according to the product concept, I think the levels of functionality and safety of our products are quite high. The important part is to communicate the usage concept and intended purposes accurately to the customers.
Abe　I think the fundamental issue is to pay attention to safety at all times. No matter how advanced the product safety control system and quality standards are, the safety of products cannot be assured without proper execution of management backed up by safety recognition. Therefore, I think the priority should be given to the promotion of safety within our organization before pursuing knowledge and manufacturing techniques.
Nakagawa　It is true, from the perspective of the customers, that all products must be safe. However, an excessive emphasis on safety and quality may result in products that are too expensive. So the key is to have a broader perspective and establish some consensus between us and the customers on the minimum safety standards that must be observed.

Tanooka　Tell us what actions are being taken to assure safety and quality to satisfy the customers, along with future goals.

Abe　In order to promote safety and quality, we need to listen to the voices of customers and analyze their needs. For this reason, a centralized database for storing customer information is absolutely necessary. Even if we could introduce a product that satisfies our safety and quality standards, we need to have some means of practical test to see if the product provides an answer to the needs extracted from the customer information.
Yamaki　Since we do not often get opportunities to come face to face with customers and listen to their complaints and comments, it is important for us to understand the customers better. In the future, I would like to think of ways to access customer comments and reflect them in our product development.
Uechi　In the future, we will undertake VOC (Voice of CustomerConsumer) activities and, based on the outcome, we will create a database that enables us to offer new services. I want to create a system to store all customer comments and publish them within the organization so that they would be used for future product development.
Tanooka　Playing the role of an interface that conveys complaints from customers to respective organizations will lead to better customer satisfaction, am I correct?
Ozaki　Since there are many customers asking technical questions, we are thinking of setting up workshops for customer support staff and quality inspectors to gain knowledge on the materials and evaluation criteria. The reference values and test methods are reviewed every three to five years and, during these occasions, we would like to make further efforts to improve the correlation between actual usage situations and the standards and tests.
Nakagawa　Since customer needs change with time, it is important to collect the latest information and set up opportunities to review the safety and quality regularly. In addition, it is often very hard to see the contribution of safety and quality control in the sales revenues and, for this reason, it is important to establish a standard method to evaluate the jobs of quality controllers and promote better recognition of safety and quality among the employees at the same time.
Oka　For example, marathon shoes are designed and aimed at highly athletic runners chasing record times rather than ordinary consumers. Therefore, it is important for us to establish a system to let the customers know of that fact and provide a method for choosing the right kind and size of shoes. Various actions are being taken by shops, including the use of POP materials to assist in the selection of the right product and size for the customer. It is also necessary to make counter-proposals for customer complaints and to motivate employees in the future.
Nose　Before shoes are introduced into the market, the product’s concept, construction, and materials are reviewed, the specifications are finalized, and marketing samples are produced. In the past, problems were compiled at this point. However, the system has been changed and any problem could be pointed out and corrected at the commercialization meeting. Quality control guidance is provided at the time of production.
Tanooka　As you have pointed out again and again in this meeting, I believe that obtaining information at the site of usage and maintaining good communication with customers would ultimately lead to better customer satisfaction.I sincerely hope that everybody will take action to improve the customer satisfaction rating in performing each task related to the safety and quality of our products.